The course aims to provide knowledge and tools to enhance the use of evaluation in public bodies and organizations. 

The course has two main parts; first, the course explains what kind of evaluation questions could be formulated by policy makers and how the existing types of evaluation could provide suitable answers to those questions. 

The second part will discuss how evaluation and evaluation culture could be incorporated into public and private organizations with responsibilities in the policy making process. 

The first part of the course will describe the different types of evaluation. We will focus on the different existing typologies and will provide recent examples of needs evaluation, design evaluation, implementation evaluation, impact evaluation and economic evaluation. 

In this part it will also be explained how and why is important to enhance evidence to improve policy design and the added value of the evaluation and its potential in the different parts of the public policy cycle.

The second part of the course will analyze which are the barriers that inhibits evaluation culture in a public body or organization and what public managers can do to overcome those barriers.

Specific examples of barriers and actions adopted but different organizations aimed at removing them will be discussed.

Assessment

• Participation in class: 10%
• Policy Evaluation Project (Group): 40%
• Individual Presentation: 10%
• Final Exam: 40%